Oil Worker Killed By Black Bear at Energy Plant in Canada

A black bear attacked and killed an oil worker on Wednesday at a Suncor Energy plant in northern Alberta.

According to the CBC, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) received a call around 2 pm on Wednesday that a large adult male black bear attacked and killed a female employee of Suncor Energy at the company’s Oil Sands facility near Fort McMurray in Alberta.

RCMP officers found the woman dead at the scene, but were able to shoot and kill the bear.

Occupational Health and Safety spokesman Barrie Harrison said bear attacks on oil workers in the region are rare.

“I do know that, certainly from an Occupational Health and Safety perspective, this is the first that I’m aware of having a worker either seriously injured or killed by a bear of any variety.”

Occupational Health and Safety plans plans to investigate the incident.

Suncor Energy said they plan to work with the department and law enforcement to determine the cause of the attack.

“We don’t know why this happened,” said Sneh Seetal, a spokesperson for Suncor Energy in a press release. “We are reminding people to be especially vigilant in dealing with wildlife. That’s why it’s so important we conduct a full investigation and work with regulatory bodies to determine what happened in this tragic situation.”

Seetal noted that the Suncor employees receive special training to deal with wildlife.

The identity of the female employee has not yet been released to the public.